


Counterpropaganda

by Daxolotl



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Ambiguous Relationships, Can be read as pre-relationship or platonic, Character Study, Gen, Hopeful Ending, Introspection, Post-Crisis, Season/Series 04 Spoilers, post-4x22
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-20
Updated: 2019-05-20
Packaged: 2020-03-08 17:17:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18899128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daxolotl/pseuds/Daxolotl
Summary: "If you're here to kill me or force me to do something reprehensible could you get on with it, please?" she says, amazed at how steady her voice sounds."I told you, I'm here to help you." He pours them both cups of coffee, then pauses. "Well. Technically I'm here to save all of reality as we know it, but I decided that I could take twenty minutes out of my day to saveyou, too.""Awfully magnanimous of you."





	Counterpropaganda

**Author's Note:**

> _This is set post-4x22, so please don't read this if you want to avoid spoilers!_
> 
> _The finale gave me a lot of emotions about Lena Luthor, and this idea struck me as I was talking with my fiancée about the upcoming Crisis._

"Hello, Lena."

Lena staggers backwards in shock.

"Lex. That's...no, that's impossible! You can't be here."

She stares at him like she's seeing a ghost. Which, he supposes, she is. She did kill him, after all.

"I am here, but not for the reasons you might think."

He takes a step forwards, and she jerks back, freezing. Terrified.

"I'm not going to hurt you."

Those words don't mean much to her any more. She whines, dropping to the floor and curling up. "God, why can't you just leave me alone?"

Lex sighs, as if he's being inconvenienced by her breakdown. "Lena. My name is Alexander Luthor. And yes, technically you did shoot me twice. But I'm not that same person now." He kneels down, looking at her like she's a scared animal or a lost child. "I've been brought back to aid with a Crisis. Rest assured, once it's over, I'll be out of your dark, luscious and genetically-predisposed hair."

She looks at him with hate-filled eyes. "But until then you're here to torment me some more?"

"No." He climbs to his feet and steps past her, walking into her apartment and closing the door behind himself. "I'm here to help you."

She stays, staring at the door. She could run. Try and get away. But she knows Lex. He's bound to have guards everywhere. Front and back entrances, probably the elevator. Maybe even a couple right outside the door.

There are sounds of...is he putting the _coffee machine_ on?

She climbs her way to her feet, curiosity getting the better of her. At the very least, the kitchen has knives in it.

"Still take your coffee black, right?" he asks as she rounds the corner, picking out a pair of mugs from one of her cupboards. Of course he knows where she keeps her coffee mugs. She doesn't deign to give him an answer.

His eyes flick across the rest of her apartment. To the empty wine bottles piled up. To the packed-up boxes, ready for whenever she feels brave enough to cut the last of her ties and leave this city. The cracked picture frame on the table. The photo album flung across the room for whenever Lena feels like hurting herself with the truth (which is usually after one of the bottles of wine).

"Y'know, I'm just gonna come out and say it. This place is a mess, sis."

"If you're here to kill me or force me to do something reprehensible could you get on with it, please?" she says, amazed at how steady her voice sounds.

"I told you, I'm here to help you." He pours them both cups of coffee, then pauses. "Well. Technically I'm here to save all of reality as we know it, but I decided that I could take twenty minutes out of my day to save _you_ , too."

"Awfully magnanimous of you."

"Well, I'm a swell guy like that." He smiles, and it's...different, somehow. Softer than Lex ever managed. It reminds her of Kara a little, and that thought brings its own venom now. "...How've you been?" he asks, and the concern sounds so genuine she wants to cry.

"Well, I shot and killed my own brother three months ago and now he's making me coffee." She crosses her arms over her chest and leans against the doorframe. "Oh, and before he died, he told me that my best friend, my ex-boyfriend, and every other friend I have were lying to my face for years. So I'm just peachy."

Lex points at her. "That's what I'm here about. See. You might not believe it, and I don't blame you for that disbelief, but I'm genuinely a changed man." He takes a sip of his coffee, picking the other mug up and carrying it over to her. "The Monitor needed a _hero_ to save reality, so he brought me back with....just a few tweaks. A little less Luthor, a little more Lena. So now, I'm as helpful as can be."

She doesn't take the coffee.

"I was cruel to you, Lena, and I want to undo that now. I want to show you the truths I kept hidden."

She sneers. "I think you've done quite enough of that for two lifetimes."

"I was a monster," he says, firmly. Like a frustrated teacher dealing with a petulant child. "Anything I told you, I told you with spin. With a clear, calculated goal to make you feel worthless." 

"I'm well aware of my childhood abuse, thank you."

"You know me, Lena. I almost took over the world with propaganda and a few tweaked truths - yet you took the news about your friends at face value?" He scoffs. "I thought you were smarter than that. Aren't you at least a little curious to know the full truth? To know _why_ Supergirl kept her identity from you?"

Her nails dig into her palms at the reminder of the deception. The physical pain keeps her grounded; keeps her stable in this moment. It's not a particularly great moment to be stable in, but she needs her thoughts in the here and now to deal with any of Lex's games. "I know why she kept the truth from me. She was using and manipulating me, just like you."

"Peer a little deeper, Lena."

She looks at him. Truly, deeply stares at him. His eyes are softer. He's trimmed his beard. His suit seems a little less expensive and uptight than usual. He's not wearing a watch on the hand that's still holding the coffee cup out for her, patiently. He takes another sip of his own coffee, and quirks an eyebrow.

She yanks the cup out of his hands. "Fine."

He smiles at her. Truly smiles. It feels unnerving.

"What is it you want to tell me? Or do you have another slideshow of hidden cameras?"

"Nothing quite like that this time." He raises his now-empty hand, demonstrating to her that it is, in fact, still empty. "The Monitor gave me certain gifts for my work. And those come with certain benefits. I'm going to touch the side of your head, if that's alright? You can say no."

Her jaw clenches. Her grip on her cup creaks. But she nods. What else does she have to lose?

His fingers touch the side of her head, and suddenly, she's somewhere else.

She's in CatCo.

She looks around. Lex is still with her, but the world is different now. Everything seems...hazy. There's no coffee cup in her hand. She looks down. She's wearing...a dress she barely remembers wearing. When did she lose this one? Two years ago? Three?

She hears a voice she recognises, in the distance, and she can't help but move towards it. Even though she knows she shouldn't.

It's Kara, of course. And James. They're talking about something, but the words aren't distinct. But as she approaches, getting closer to them, two sentences stand out.

"If Lena found out that I am Supergirl, she would be devastated. She'd lump me in with everyone else who's ever betrayed her."

Lena staggers back.

There it is. Confirmation of what she already knew. That Kara knew exactly what she was doing when she lied to Lena.

"So this is what you brought me here to see?" she asks, looking over at Lex. "More evidence of what you already told me?"

"No," Lex says, and touches his fingers to her temple.

CatCo fades from view, and she's left standing in the DEO. She staggers backwards, grabbing at her head as the room spins a little.

"Sorry about that," Lex says. "Transporting you through time to different memories isn't exactly easy."

She makes a rude gesture towards him and tries to get her bearings.

There are people walking around the ops center. Lena grips the handrail as she walks down the stairs. Lex doesn't try to help her, as a mercy. And there Kara is, again. Of course. This time she's with Mon-El, his red suit and cape contrasting hers. The most stereotypically perfect couple, weren't they?

"I let my mask down for one second, and look what happened."

"Well, you can't be all things to all people. All you can do is be true to yourself."

Herself. Right. Lena laughs at that, a harsh and broken sound.

"Which self?" Kara shrugs, lost for words. "I'm supposed to stand for...for truth! But how am I supposed to be truthful? _Really_ truthful?"

"Well if you tell Lena the truth..." Mon-El begins, thinking over his words carefully. "You'd be doing it to make yourself feel better, not her. So maybe in this case it's, uh... Not telling her the truth is the noble thing?"

Lena scoffs. "What self-serving, self-destructive, hero-worshipping bullshit."

Lex shrugs in response. "Oh, you'll hear no argument from me. But it's the right reasons, wouldn't you say, even if it's the wrong choices?"

"It's a sacrifice you're making to protect her," Mon-El says.

Lex's hand touches the back of her head, and the room warps and shifts again.

The noise of the DEO Ops Center fades away, and she's...on a plane. Her plane?

She staggers over, gripping the back of one of the leather seats to hold herself up.

"Steady. I don't want to know what happens to the timeline if you vomit into it," Lex adds, helpfully, and she grits her teeth. "We might not really be here, but I'm not sure if that extends to our stomach contents."

"Kara, please, I'm trying to apologise to you! That explosion could have killed you!"

Hearing her own voice in this state is strange. Unsettling. "Is that really what I sound like?"

"Yes, it is what you sound like. And it's so annoying."

She shoves her elbow into his solar plexus.

"It- It wouldn't have." Kara says. Her voice is firm. And here, from the front of the plane, she sees what she didn't last time.

She sees Kara pulling her glasses off, and getting to her feet.

No.

No, she can't have been this close. This can't be what really happened, that day in Kasnia.

"Lena," Kara calls, her voice firmer than Lena can remember hearing it. Her voice like Supergirl's.

"I don't let my guard down, ever, and I did with Eve, and...she betrayed me."

Turn around.

"I let her in and she lied to me every day. To my face, about who she was. And that's what hurts."

_Turn around, Lena._

"Y'know, I don't...I don't know if I'll ever recover from it, but..."

"Turn around!" she screams at herself. Her voice is muffled in this space, dampened. And nobody listens. Nobody listens to her.

"I know there is...there's no way I could trust anyone ever again if it wasn't for your friendship, and your integrity."

Kara lowers her head, and starts to put her glasses back on.

"Just, it...it means the world to me, Kara."

Lena drops to her knees, and feels the tears start to come. No. She can't have been this close to the truth. To Kara telling her, on her own terms. Without Lex revealing everything.

This can't be true.

"I'm always gonna be here for you."

Lex places a hand on her shoulder, supportively. She hates it. She hates how Kara has so much control over her emotions, even now. Hates how Lex's comfort still means the world to her even after she killed him.

"I'm sorry," he says, softly. "But there is still more you need to see."

"I can't," she whispers, broken and hurting.

"A Luthor can do anything we put our minds to."

And the plane is gone.

It's CatCo, again, but it's dark this time. After hours. The televisions are off, everyone's gone home for the night. 

Lex is ahead of her, at the door to James's office. His eyebrow quirks, holding the door open for her and waiting patiently.

She sniffles. Wipes her eyes. Climbs to her feet, and walks towards the door. She doesn't know what she's going to find here, but she knows she won't like it.

She's barely through the door when she hears James's voice.

"But if Lena had found out in that moment who you really are..."

"I almost told her myself," Kara replies, and James's eyebrows climb into his non-existent hairline. Lena wonders if she should talk to her therapist about the fact that her only long-term boyfriend was a bald man. "Lex already knows."

"What stopped you from telling Lena?" James asks, so softly and so genuinely. This...this doesn't make any sense. They were supposed to be laughing about her behind her back. Making her look like a fool. Not this.

"The past few months she's been betrayed by Lex, by Eve... so if she found out after all of this time that _I_ was lying?" Kara's voice is soft. Fragile. "I couldn't bear to put her through that again."

Lena raises a hand to her mouth, feeling a fresh wave of grief battering her flood defences. She holds it back, clenching her teeth to keep herself silent.

"But when this is all over? When Lex is behind bars, I am going to tell her the truth. Even if she hates me." Kara takes a deep, slow breath. "I have to. It's the right thing to do."

"It is. I think you're right."

Lena takes a step back, and bumps directly into Lex.

"Not quite the story you were expecting, is it?"

"No. This is. This is all wrong. It's wrong, this isn't..."

"There's still one more," he says, and she feels his fingers press against the side of her head.

CatCo fades away, and J'onn's office blurs into view.

Game night. Just after she found out the truth.

Lena takes a deep, heaving breath. No. She can't be here again. It was hard enough to be here the first time, she can't go through this again.

Kara walks towards her, and Alex follows, and Lena feels her heart break all over again as she watches the two of them.

"You're not upset that Brainy's just killing it with the game over there, right? Because you know we're gonna take him down."

Kara pours herself a glass of wine and raises her eyebrows challengingly. "Uh, we're gonna _cream_ him. But...no, I'm uh." She pauses for a moment. Focuses on her drink. "I'm worried about Lena."

Lena's eyes flick to her past self. To her smiling and holding a conversation with the liars that she called friends.

"I have to tell her the truth. I can't keep it from her any more."

"Lena's been through hell. I mean, we finally got to a place where it sorta feels more normal again, so...I dunno, maybe just... let her enjoy the evening, before we take it away?"

"You're right." Kara takes a breath. Looks towards the wall. Looks right at Lena - the present Lena, where she's standing with Lex. And looks right through her. "Not tonight."

She pats Alex on the shoulder in the same moment that Lex's hand touches Lena's.

"Have you seen enough?" he asks, softly.

"Yes. Take me back, please."

He nods and steps in front of her. Reaches his hand out and cups her cheek.

She closes her eyes, and when she opens them again, she's standing there in her apartment. Alone.

Lex is gone. The only evidence he was ever there at all is the pair of coffee cups sitting on the sideboard.

_ _ _

Kara flies through her window, beaten and exhausted. They've won. Oliver, and Alexander Luthor of all people, helped to save all of reality.

It cost them a lot, and the full repercussions will be felt for a while, but...for tonight she's tired, and needs to rest. Long-term Crisis repercussions can wait for when she's less sleepy. She superspeeds into her pajamas, holding her glasses between her teeth as she struggles to tie her hair back at normal speed.

There's a knock on her door, and she groans into her glasses. "Jus' a 'econ'!" she calls out.

She finishes tying her hair back and shoves her glasses messily on to her face before she unlatches the door, pulling it open without X-ray visioning or checking the peephole.

It's Lena.

Lena's standing there, for the first time in months. Her eyes are puffy, and she looks like she's been crying. Honestly, she looks like she might have just run all the way here.

They haven't spoken since Kara had tried to visit her after finding Lex's hidden bunker. She'd tried to explain, but...Lena hadn't wanted to hear it.

Kara swallows, hard. Frozen in place.

"Kara," Lena says, softly, and it's the nicest word she thinks she's ever heard. "Can, um..." 

There's a few moments of silence, where she thinks that Lena might be about to run. Run from her life, from National City, from everything.

"...Do you mind if I come in?"

"I..." Kara takes a breath. And slowly, surely, she begins to smile. "I'd really like that."


End file.
